One Way Street
by radiany
Summary: [for misura] Kaiba ignores Jounouchi. Like Jounouchi's going to take that sitting down. [KaiJou and others, starring toosmart!Mokuba, annoyed!Jounouchi, nonchalant!Kaiba, and New Year's resolutions]


**Dedication **misura

**Why** Because she beta's for me and is truly a wonderful person.

**Labels** shonen-ai; OOC; profanity; slight het; denial; drabble; oneshot; pg13

**[beforehand]**

Now the story's **based** **off** of Blythely's "Was, Will, Is"! Argh! I'm so sorry Blythely xX! All credits on the idea goes to her!

Briefly mentioned MaiShizuka, JouMai, OtogiAnzu, YamiYuugi, BakuraRyou, and SetoJou all in one snippet oO

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**One-Way Street**

**--**

**waiting for the train.**

Ten days, Jounouchi decided, were enough.

If Kaiba ignored him tomorrow, then he would have to start counting on his _toes_ to list the number of times he had been brushed off and overlooked by Seto fucking Kaiba. He hadn't noticed at first because last week was incredible: Mai came to visit and dragged him along to see Shizuka (of which he didn't mind) and _damn_, he forgot how _amazing_ she looked. Anzu showed off some new dance moves at Otogi's request (of which there had been one too many catcalls and of which the offenders had been eliminated with Otogi's dice-throw tricks), and Yuugi was being smothered by Yami no Yuugi everywhere he went. It seemed to have resulted from a "who loves their other self more" contest between Yami no Yuugi and Yami no Bakura. Needless to say, both Ryou and Yuugi were going out of their way to avoid their darker halves.

Which reminded him: Kaiba was avoiding _him_ and he didn't know _why_.

The first three days, it was fine, because Jounouchi had thought that Kaiba received a big project or something that was keeping him busy and _that_ was why he wasn't stopping to make snide remarks every time he passed them. On the fourth day, it was starting to get annoying, because Kaiba had threw him off course when he only _looked_ at Jounouchi after Jounouchi had tried to insult his social etiquette for saying nothing to Yuugi when Yuugi said 'good morning.' And on the fifth, sixth, and seventh days, Kaiba was almost no where to be seen. It was like he had been wiped off the face of the planet – not that Jounouchi minded that he was gone. Kaiba could move to Mars for all he cared, but what about Mokuba? Jounouchi wondered if Kaiba's little brother was receiving the same treatment as they were.

Probably not.

But that led to the question of why Kaiba was avoiding them in the first place. It wasn't like Yuugi was kept from waving his friendship-contract in the air, and Jounouchi didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. Still, Yuugi continued to try to "make-friends" with Kaiba, and for some reason, Kaiba didn't act like a jackass and say that Yuugi was using up his precious oxygen every time Yuugi approached him. In fact, Kaiba was almost _polite_ when Yuugi tried to make buddy-buddy with him (still refusing, of course), and he had kept a good distance from _every single one of them_ for the past ten days, as if he was **afraid** or something. Or something, most likely, because Jounouchi sure as hell didn't know why **Seto Kaiba** would be _afraid_ of _them_ (he should be, but from past experiences, Jounouchi knew that he wasn't).

When he asked the others, Honda had given him a strange look and asked him why he cared, because after all, shouldn't Jounouchi be grateful that Kaiba wasn't trying to bug them anymore?

Jounouchi suddenly realized that, yeah, shouldn't he be?

**lunch in the cable car.**

When New Year's Eve rolled around, Kaiba put down his newspaper and his cup of coffee (black) to join Mokuba in making a snowman.

He didn't usually play in the snow (actually, he didn't remember the last time he'd played with anything other than Magic and Wizards), but Mokuba was looking at him with accusing eyes that made Seto flinch because he was reminded that he'd _promised_, big brother and _damn it_, he wasn't supposed to work so hard and _shit_, he had forgotten to play with him last year (of where he also promised).

So he'd donned his own warm, winter clothing before walking with Mokuba to the park because Mokuba said that it was more fun to watch the snow fall when you were walking than when they rode in the car.

Sometimes he didn't understand his brother, but it wasn't too far away (only around five or six blocks) so he didn't say anything about it. They reached the park perhaps an hour later and Seto had asked if Mokuba was cold; Mokuba only shook his head, causing snowflakes to flutter around his head and into his hair and looked around the square before he spotted other Yuugi and his little playmates running around and hitting each other with snowballs. He pointed them out to Seto, but Seto only gave them a brief glance (and spotted a glimpse of golden hair under a red hood) before shrugging in response and Mokuba had stared at him with a look of disbelief and said that he was being stupid.

Seto didn't understand that.

But it didn't seem important at the time, so instead of questioning Mokuba, they spent the rest of the afternoon making their snowman before getting into a snowball fight of their own. It was surprisingly entertaining, and Seto made a mental note to do it again sometime. As they walked home, Seto saw that his brother was starting to shiver, so he took off his own scarf (blue) and wrapped it around Mokuba's shoulders. Mokuba smiled (brightly) up at him, and Seto felt all warm and tingly inside, because he hadn't seen that smile in such a long time.

He got the same feeling after the maids had prepared a fire in the hearth and two cups of hot chocolate (with marshmallows) on the coffee table (cherry). Seto had sat on the sofa behind it and watched as Mokuba bounded down the stairs with a quilt strung around his neck like a cape and Seto thought that it was all very amusing. He was then presented with a sheet of paper and a pencil and he looked up (curious) at Mokuba, who was grinning as he told his brother to write down his New Year's resolutions. Seto had raised an eyebrow and watched as Mokuba plopped down beside him and started scribbling on his own page.

Shrugging slightly, he decided oh, what the heck (except in more intelligent terms) and started listing.

_1. I will beat Mutou Yuugi at Magic and Wizards._

_2. I will keep Kaiba Corp, its plans and technology at least two steps ahead of everyone else._

He paused, because isn't it supposed to be a single resolution for every year? Then, after looking at Mokuba, he decided that he really didn't care.

_3. I will ignore Jounouchi Katsuya and all his little friends._

The grandfather clock in the hallway began to chime, and it was the New Year.

**last stop.**

There's a shuffle and a nervous look.

He doesn't look up when Jounouchi sits down because he's too busy working on a document that is far more important than sitting and having a heart-to-heart conversation with the mutt. For some reason, he knows that it's what Jounouchi wants because despite all his ignoring, he can't help but notice when Jounouchi starts staring at him from across the courtyard with this strange, heated gaze that he interprets as annoyance. And he can't help but overhear Jounouchi's announcement that he's going to come and _try_ to talk to him. He wonders how he can center in on Jounouchi's voice when the entire school ground is filled with student cacophony.

Jounouchi's fiddling with his hair now (like a girl, he notes, amused) and he wonders if it's a habit.

He doesn't know how he's watching Jounouchi when he should be looking at his laptop and suddenly he realizes that he's not looking at it all because Jounouchi's staring back at him with his deep, soulful eyes that he probably doesn't know are deep and soulful.

They're watching each other not knowing that they're watching each other.

Finally, Jounouchi coughs (lightly, but trying to make it rough) and the moment is broken.

Kaiba wonders if Jounouchi's friends are watching but he doesn't want to look away for some reason. Then Jounouchi bites his bottom lip.

"Kaiba. Why are you ignoring me…" he pauses, "Us?"

And because they're so close Kaiba can't help but resort back to his previous behavior, forgetting all about his resolutions. He lifts his eyebrow (thin), looking smug and amused at the same time. "Are you saying that you want my attention?"

Jounouchi's looking stunned because he didn't think that Kaiba would respond (or act like the bastard he was before), and he looks even more perplexed when the question finally sinks in. They don't say anything for the next few moments but then Jounouchi's narrowing his eyes like a glare and leaning in so closely Kaiba can feel his breaths on his face. He wonders what Jounouchi would say if he told him to stop breathing, but then he decides that hell, he doesn't care anymore.

He leans in and kisses him.

It should feel weird because they're both _boys_, for god's sake, but it doesn't and it's wonderful and Kaiba wonders if he'll sound really corny if he says it's like flying. Jounouchi's staring at him with wide eyes (like a girl's, he notes, amused) and Kaiba vaguely wonders if he should pull away or at least close his eyes.

But Jounouchi's closing them first and Kaiba suddenly feels hands running through his hair and on his cheeks and skin and neck and it's all very wonderful.

There's a voice in Jounouchi's head wondering what they hell they're doing, and there's a voice in Kaiba's saying that this probably looks all very strange.

But Jounouchi's kissing him back and Kaiba's letting him, and suddenly, all their worries don't seem to matter anymore.

Mokuba did say, once upon a winter, that resolutions can be broken.

**fin.**

**[afterward]**

Finished June 24th, 2004.

Written and modified in 81 minutes [one hour, 21 minutes].

1609 words.

oO This is the longest piece I've ever written. Hn. It doesn't actually seem all that bad. Really out-of-character, but not _bad..._

The "stop-breathing" comment is credited to "Protective Bonds" by Sadie Dragonfire. The "Kaiba-zoning-in-on-Jounouchi's-voice" phrase comes from "Service Plan" by Sora-sama [the snarkymonkey xD].

I humbly thank Schuldich-muse for correcting all my irregular verbs and past-present tense mistakes. I really, really, really need another grammar class. What's the difference between "then" and "than" x.x?

**endlog[9:09 am]**


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